Various types of conveyor gates have been devised for controllably moving a stream of goods through the gate, in a closed position, or for moving a stream of goods from a conveyor run using the gate, in an open position, so that the goods drop from a conveyor run including the gate to a lower conveyor run or to a storage member. Gates for conventional conveyor systems commonly include a slide mechanism that opens and closes an opening in the gate. These conventional gates can damage fragile goods when the gate is moved from the open to the closed position. Additionally, powered slide mechanisms used to operate conventional gates present a safety hazard because a closing gate may capture a finger or an article of clothing worn by an equipment operator working near the gate.
An improved rotatable gate for a conveyor system is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,378,688. Goods moving along a conveyor run ride on the lowermost portion of a trough in which the goods move. A rotatable sleeve of the gate disclosed in the '688 Patent includes an opening along a portion of its circumference such that, when the opening is in an elevated position, goods moved along a conveyor run that includes the adjustable gate will pass through the rotatable sleeve and are dropped from an adjacent end of the adjustable gate to a structure there below. But when the opening of the rotatable sleeve is rotated to a lowered position, all or some of the lowermost portion of the trough in which the goods move is absent, and all or some of the goods moving along the conveyor run enter the rotatable sleeve and drop through the opening and from the adjustable gate to a receiving structure below, such as a bagging machine or a lower conveyor run that moves the goods to a desired destination. Goods remaining on the conveyor run that includes the gate, i.e. any goods that move past the opening in the rotatable sleeve of the gate, will be discharged off of the end of the gate to a receiving structure below.
The gate disclosed in the '688 Patent has limitations, however, in that the gate “drops” the goods either through the opening in the rotatable sleeve or off the end of the gate. Either way, the goods are dropped very near to the adjustable gate. For certain types of conveyors, elevating goods to a higher position is difficult—goods can be moved only horizontally along the conveyor run or downwardly from the conveyor run. A shortcoming of the gate of the '688 Patent is that goods can be dropped from the end of the gate, for example, to a lower receiving conveyor run, or goods can be dropped through the opening in the rotatable sleeve of the gate, for example, to a lower receivable conveyor run, but the conveyor run or other receiving structure underneath the end of the adjustable gate is necessarily very close to the conveyor run or other receiving structure underneath the adjustable gate. This may result in unwanted crowding of the process area underneath the adjustable gate.
The adjustable gate of the prior art has shortcomings. For example, it may be desirable to move the goods that do not fall through the opening in the adjustable gate further from the goods that drop directly underneath the adjustable gate. Also, the loss of elevation of the goods that drop from the rotatable sleeve of the adjustable gate or moving through the rotatable sleeve of the adjustable gate to drop off the end of the gate, along with the unwanted crowding underneath the gate, limits the flexibility of the conveyor system that includes the conveyor run with the adjustable gate for moving goods to multiple desired destinations.
Another shortcoming of the gate of the '688 Patent is that it is unidirectional; that is, it can only be used at an end of a conveyor portion. The gate of the '688 Patent is not capable of moving goods that are not dropped from the adjustable gate in either direction through the gate. As a result, single-direction conveyor runs further limit the flexibility of the conveyor system.
These and other disadvantages of the prior art are overcome by the present invention.